As a service-connected disabled veteran, I’ve spent most of my adult life overseas. The truth is simple: life is better abroad if you are on a fixed income. Maybe you want to escape cold winters without paying Florida prices, or maybe you miss the sense of motion that came with deployment; the airports, languages, and constant adaptation.

From 2006 to 2008, I was stationed in Germany. Then came Iraq. During mid-tour leave, I went to the beaches of Crimea—then part of Ukraine—and saw how far a few hundred dollars went. That trip changed me. Once I got back to Fort Bliss, I was already planning my move overseas. Private contracting followed, and for most of the last twenty years, I’ve lived outside the United States.

I love my country, but until I get rich from writing or something else, I

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